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 Tony
Blair's
heart problems are not the only ones to have made it on to the political agenda
in recent weeks. Two Labour MEPs, Linda McAvan and Catherine Stihler, have
launched a campaign in the European Parliament to call on the World Health
Organisation (WHO) to recognise and officially name sudden death syndrome (SDS)
— an adult version of cot death that affects mainly young and seemingly fit
people.
Up to eight people a week in the UK die from SDS,
making it the most common cause of unexpected death in those under 30.
Stihler and McAvan, supported by the British
Heart Foundation (BHF) and the charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), believe
that medical recognition of the syndrome is vital to reduce the number of
deaths. Since the WHO classified child cot deaths as sudden infant death
syndrome, cases have dropped by 70 per cent in ten years. “Only by naming this
syndrome can we edge closer to understanding causes, risk factors and putting
preventative strategies in place,” says Stihler, who is Labour’s health
spokesman in the European Parliament.
Most victims of SDS are active youngsters who
report no symptoms before their fatal heart attack. Sport and heavy workouts,
although not a direct cause, can trigger the syndrome; the strain placed on the
heart during intense physical activity often proves too much when there is an
underlying problem with a thickened heart muscle or irregular heartbeat.
“There are different types of heart abnormality
that can lead to the syndrome, the most common being hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,”
says Alison Cox, the founder of CRY. “It makes the heart thicken, leads to an
irregular heartbeat and stops the heart from pumping effectively.”
The footballer Marc-Vivien Foé was a recent
high-profile victim of SDS. But the lengthy list of talented athletes who have
died from the condition includes John Marshall, 16, a junior international
footballer, Adrian Hawkins, 22, who was on the shortlist for a place in
Britain’s cycling team at the Barcelona Olympics, and Daniel Yorath, son of
the footballer Terry, who was 15 when he died shortly after signing for Leeds
United. With simple tests, including electrocardiogram and echocardiogram
examinations, available to check for SDS, charities such as CRY are campaigning
for more widespread screening to identify it before it is too late.
“Some people do get symptoms such as
breathlessness and chest pains, but many feel nothing. And if fit youngsters do
get symptoms, they probably pass them off as something else,” says Dr Sanjay
Sharma, a consultant cardiologist. “Many deaths could be prevented through
screening.”
Studies carried out at the world’s first sports
cardiology testing centre at the Olympic Medical Institute in Northwick Park
Hospital, Harrow, reveal how important screening is in the prevention of SDS.
Since it opened in April, Dr Greg Whyte, the exercise cardiologist who runs the
CRY-funded centre, has tested more than 400 elite athletes, 90 of whom have been
found to have some form of cardiac complaint.
Over the next five years, CRY wants testing for
SDS to be introduced to elite youth squads and top individuals aged 16 and under
in all sports. Eventually, it hopes that cardiac examinations will be made part
of the Government’s national screening programme for young people.
It is an approach that has been proved to work in
Italy, where statistical data on cardiac-related deaths in athletes published a
few years ago was considered convincing enough for mandatory testing to be
introduced in all sports. Cardiologists are also integral members of the medical
team at most Italian football clubs.
“Athletes are not the only people at risk of
SDS, but they are particularly sensitive,” Whyte says. “Ideally, we want
more recognition for SDS across the board. In the long term we want screening of
all active youngsters, but for now all national sports governing bodies should
encourage participants to undergo cardiac screening. Sports people work their
bodies to extremes. They keep a check on training, injuries and their diet, but
all too often they neglect what is going on under the bonnet.”
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